Chapter 8#
A crowd of intrigued guests gathered around the poker table, remaining silent as they stood watching during the dealing, curious to see if Young Master Jiang could win another round.#
Nan Shuyi spotted Jiang Yicen sitting at the poker table at a single glance. In front of him were several stacks of chips, double the amount anyone else had.
His wrist rested lightly on the table, his demeanor relaxed and unhurried. To Nan Shuyi, he looked more like an obedient student attentively listening to a teacher’s lecture, showing none of the tension, exaggerated expressions, or darting eyes typically associated with a gambling table.
“Dammit, busted again.”
Another player bowed out this round as the dealer collected his cards. He had lost all his chips.
Though the stakes weren’t high, it was a matter of face. This man, eliminated first, turned to Jiang Yicen and tried to save face: “There really is a newbie protection period. My luck’s just off today.”
Jiang Yicen had never heard that phrase before and found it amusing, so he offered a faint smile.
Now only three players remained with chips: Jiang Yicen, Cao Ken, and a bespectacled third player.
Cao Ken: “There really is a newbie protection period. Let’s continue.”
Jiang Yicen had ignited Cao Ken’s competitive drive. As a seasoned player, he couldn’t possibly lose to a novice—anyone but Jiang Yicen, that stepmother’s son.
In the eyes of Jiang Yiting’s friends, they generally believed Jiang Gongming had divorced Jiang Yiting’s mother because he had an affair with He Nuanqing. Jiang Yiting never bothered to clarify, so everyone looked down on Jiang Yicen immensely.
Jiang Yicen calmly pushed half his chips forward: “Call.”
The others called as well, for the sake of face.
What had started as casual fun to tease Jiang Yiting’s half-brother had now turned deadly serious—no one wanted to lose to Jiang Yicen.
The dealer continued dealing.
Jiang Yicen received his cards but didn’t look at them, leaving them face-down on the table.
Cao Ken peeked at one corner of his cards. From his expression, it was clear he was satisfied with his hand.
He taunted Jiang Yicen: “Want to keep going?”
Jiang Yicen smiled. “Sure, let’s keep going.”
Cao Ken couldn’t stand his calm demeanor. He thought Jiang Yicen was even more pretentious than his brother Jiang Yiting, and felt a surge of irritation as he eyed the large stacks of chips before him.
A scheme formed in his mind. If Jiang Yicen lost this round, all his chips would go to Cao Ken. His hand had good winning odds, and Jiang Yicen still hadn’t looked at his cards—probably too scared to. Cao Ken decided to corner him early, in front of this large crowd. The more Jiang Yicen tried to act cool, the harder he’d fall, and that was exactly what Cao Ken wanted.
“Hey, little brother, how about we play big?”
Jiang Yicen had known from the start that Cao Ken meant no good. Jiang Yiting treated “Jiang Yicen” the half-brother terribly—he was skilled at using others to do his dirty work, letting his friends “teach” him a lesson without getting his own hands dirty.
Jiang Yicen wasn’t intimidated and asked back, “Oh? What did you have in mind?”
Old Chen was too law-abiding; the chips at the table had limited denominations, so Cao Ken couldn’t make Jiang Yicen lose everything. But he could use another method.
He pointed to the liquor displayed on a shelf. “See that Moutai over there? If your points aren’t higher than mine, the loser drinks half a bottle. How about it?”
Jiang Yicen had never seen Moutai before and didn’t know its value or alcohol content, but he knew Cao Ken was up to no good. Still, he wasn’t afraid.
He replied, as if unbothered: “Sounds good. With so many witnesses here, no backing out.”
Jiang Yicen swept his gaze across the room and spotted the most handsome, familiar face in this world. He was somewhat surprised, but not entirely—Old Chen had a wide network, so it was natural for the Nan family to send someone.
He smiled in Nan Shuyi’s direction.
Cao Ken, acting like an older brother, was confident he would win. “Of course not. I was just afraid you might chicken out.”
Jiang Yicen: “Nothing to be afraid of.”
He went all in, pushing every chip onto the table. Chips were bought with real money, so they shouldn’t be wasted.
Cao Ken guessed his calmness was just an act and went all in too. But he noticed Jiang Yicen still hadn’t looked at the cards just dealt.
He asked: “Not going to look at your cards?”
Jiang Yicen: “No need. Let’s see if Lady Luck favors me. Deal.”
The dealer began dealing.
Standing beside the table, Nan Shuyi had been frowning since he arrived. He knew Cao Ken—the man had a bad reputation. He was a friend of Jiang Yiting’s and clearly hostile toward Jiang Yicen.
Zhou Yi whispered, “Did your fiancé offend Cao Ken? What if he really loses? He won’t actually have to drink that whole bottle of Moutai, will he? Cao Ken is incredibly petty.”
Nan Shuyi: “Don’t talk.”
He certainly didn’t want to see Jiang Yicen lose to Cao Ken, but Jiang Yicen hadn’t even flipped his cards. Did he have any idea that Cao Ken was deliberately setting him up? Don’t mistake that guy for a friend.
And he actually smiled at him. Smiling at a time like this.
The moment of truth had arrived.
Cao Ken revealed his hand, brimming with confidence as he asked Jiang Yicen: “So? Ready to admit defeat?”
The watching guests began commenting.
“Ooh! 18 points! Impressive!”
“Fourth Young Master Jiang is going to lose. Too bad.”
“Fourth Young Master Jiang will have to drink half a bottle of liquor if he loses.”
“Old Chen’s Moutai at the table isn’t cheap either. Not a bad deal.”
Zhou Yi couldn’t stand it anymore and said loudly enough for everyone to hear: “What’s the rush? He hasn’t even flipped his cards yet.”
Turning his head, he realized Nan Shuyi had somehow moved to stand behind Jiang Yicen, clearly taking a protective stance.
Bro, you’ve got issues.
Jiang Yicen remained utterly calm. Just before revealing his cards, he caught a faint, cool fragrance—the same scent he’d smelled on Nan Shuyi’s jacket. He knew Nan Shuyi was standing behind him.
With a slight movement of his fingers, he flipped the cards face-up on the table, a confident smile gracing his fair, scholarly face.
“Sorry, just a little bigger than yours. 19 points.”
The smug grin on Cao Ken’s face froze. He counted the cards on the table three times.
Cao Ken stood up in disbelief. “How is that possible!”
Zhou Yi: “Cao Ken, you lost. Don’t forget the Moutai. We’re all witnesses here.”
Cao Ken, who had been certain of victory: “…”
Jiang Yicen reminded him of the bet he’d proposed: “Half a bottle.”
Cao Ken: “…” He wanted to back out, but when he saw Nan Shuyi standing behind Jiang Yicen, he stopped himself. The man was staring at him like a guardian deity. He’d almost forgotten about the marriage alliance between the Jiang and Nan families.
Damn it, he’d shot himself in the foot this time.
Nan Shuyi didn’t say much, just asked Jiang Yicen: “Want to keep playing? The banquet’s about to start.”
Jiang Yicen said: “No, I’m done.”
Zhou Yi was shocked by Nan Shuyi’s words. Since when did Young Master Nan care about when someone else’s banquet started? What was he doing, what was he doing!
Jiang Yicen stood up to leave the table, but Nan Shuyi hadn’t moved from behind him. “Not taking your chips?”
Jiang Yicen smiled. “Of course I will.”
In his previous life, when his second brother played cards, someone always delivered the money to him without him having to cash out himself. He’d forgotten things were different here.
This was just a casual game, but he’d won all the chips from everyone. That was a nice little allowance.
The dealer smiled and told him he could transfer the money directly. “Just give me your payment code.”
Jiang Yicen didn’t know what a payment code was. Afraid of giving himself away, he said to Nan Shuyi, “Could you give him your payment code?”
Nan Shuyi didn’t understand what he meant, but he instinctively opened his phone and handed over the code.
Ten thousand yuan arrived in his WeChat account. It wasn’t much, but Nan Shuyi’s heart wavered slightly. “The money’s mine now.”
Jiang Yicen was incredibly generous. “Sure. This is the first money I’ve ever earned.”
Nan Shuyi’s lips visibly curved into a smile.
Zhou Yi watched in stunned amazement: This Jiang Yicen knew exactly how to play the game. Wasn’t this just like someone using their first month’s salary to buy a gift for their significant other?
And the key point was—Nan Shuyi actually bought it. He bought it!
The banquet was scheduled to start at exactly seven in the evening. Nan Shuyi led Jiang Yicen downstairs. Cao Ken slunk away, hoping Jiang Yicen would forget about the whole thing.
But while Jiang Yicen might have let it slide, Nan Shuyi wouldn’t. He subtly signaled Zhou Yi with a look.
Cao Ken wasn’t getting out of drinking that bottle.
Every guest had an assigned seat. The Jiang family’s seats were not far from the main table—just two tables away. But Nan Shuyi was seated even closer, right next to the main table. The Chen family had actually wanted to seat him at the main table, but he declined, saying he was just a younger generation guest.
Jiang Yicen and Nan Shuyi sat at adjacent tables. Nan Shuyi was directly behind Jiang Yicen, so he only had to turn around to see him. Surrounded by a sea of unfamiliar faces, Jiang Yicen found this immensely reassuring.
The banquet soon became a lively social event. Many people came over to toast Jiang Gongming, and Jiang Yiting helped field some of them. Jiang Yicen had to drink a few glasses of baijiu as well. His performance at the poker table earlier had earned him a bit of a reputation.
Halfway through the banquet, one table of young people suddenly grew very rowdy.
Jiang Yicen noticed that Nan Shuyi had appeared at that liveliest table. He was holding a bottle of white liquor, not urging anyone to drink, but whenever Cao Ken’s glass was empty, he’d top it up. Early in the banquet, Cao Ken had already gotten drunk, making a complete fool of himself at the table before being carried away by his friends.
Jiang Yicen knew Nan Shuyi was helping him out. He couldn’t let that goodwill go to waste. Besides, Jiang Yiting surely knew what kind of person Cao Ken was. He had deliberately made an excuse to slip away, leaving Jiang Yicen to face Cao Ken alone.
His purpose was likely simple—he couldn’t stand “Jiang Yicen,” his half-brother.
Jiang Yicen deliberately informed Jiang Yiting: “Brother, your friend got drunk.”
Jiang Yiting: “…”
Cao Ken getting drunk and making a scene at Old Chen’s banquet would become a hot topic of gossip.
But for now, as the banquet entered its second half, the socializing was mostly done. Those who needed to leave had left. The guests the Chen family wanted to approach had been spoken to privately. Jiang Gongming went to drink tea with Old Chen.
He Nuanqing sat with a few wealthy ladies, gossiping. Jiang Yiting had gone to talk with friends because of Cao Ken’s drunken incident.
That left Jiang Yicen alone at his seat, enjoying the traditional opera performance on stage.
“You can understand opera?”
Nan Shuyi had been sitting beside Jiang Yicen for about two minutes, watching him listen intently to the opera, his fingers tapping out the rhythm on his own thigh. His demeanor didn’t match that of a returned overseas student or the Jiang Yicen Zhou Yi had described. Even Zhou Yi the gossip king could sometimes be behind on information.
He placed a cup of hot tea beside Jiang Yicen.
Jiang Yicen turned back, picked up the tea, and took a sip. “Somewhat. Chinese traditional culture has a lot of charm.”
Nan Shuyi smelled of alcohol, but since everyone around him had been drinking, the scent wasn’t unpleasant.
Nan Shuyi said: “People automatically unlock this skill when they get old.”
Jiang Yicen couldn’t hide his look of surprise. Based on his birth year, didn’t that make him an old man too?
He gazed quietly at Nan Shuyi, a hint of disappointment flickering across his face. “I’m pretty young.”
He had died at twenty-two, the same age as “Jiang Yicen.” Definitely not old. The timeline was just different.
Nan Shuyi thought Jiang Yicen had gone silent because he was upset about being told that liking opera was a sign of an old person’s mindset.
Nan Shuyi assumed he didn’t understand: “I’m not talking about you. You lived abroad, so you probably don’t follow domestic internet trends. It’s not strange if you don’t know the meme.”
Jiang Yicen felt a headache coming on. A meme? Another term he didn’t know.
Still, he was curious about this modern man: “What kind of music do you usually listen to?”
Maybe he could use Nan Shuyi as a model to learn how to be a modern person.
He did enjoy opera, and he also listened to pop music. But for Jiang Yicen, the pop music he used to listen to were now all old songs.
Nan Shuyi thought for a moment. No one had ever asked him that before. “Rock, rap, pop—I listen to all of it.”
Jiang Yicen continued: “What do you do for fun in your free time?”
Nan Shuyi was surprised—did Jiang Yicen know or not? A simple online search would reveal what he usually did for fun. Maybe Jiang Yicen wanted to hear it from him directly. Or maybe he genuinely had no idea Nan Shuyi was quite famous online.
But he decided to be coy: “You’ll find out later.”
Jiang Yicen looked a little crestfallen. “Alright.”
Seeing his pitiful expression, Nan Shuyi softened. “Usually, I hang out with friends, have a few drinks, go for drives. Sometimes I go horseback riding at the stables. In winter, I ski; in summer, I surf. I also rock climb and scuba dive.”
Jiang Yicen: “You’re really impressive.”
Nan Shuyi: “And you?”
Jiang Yicen echoed his words: “You’ll find out later.”
Nan Shuyi chuckled. “Alright, a boomerang, huh?”
Jiang Yicen: “Actually, I can—” He paused, about to continue, when someone interrupted them.
Jiang Gongming arrived with He Nuanqing and Jiang Yiting. He was very pleased with Nan Shuyi and chatted with him about company matters, but Nan Shuyi showed no interest.
Nan Shuyi: “Uncle, you should talk to my dad about that. I’m not too familiar with the company’s operations yet.”
Jiang Gongming: “Haha, no problem. I heard your father gave you two companies to practice with?”
Nan Shuyi: “That’s right. Just letting me play around with them for a few days. Uncle, why don’t you give Yicen a couple of companies to practice with too?”
That caught Jiang Gongming off guard. He gave an awkward laugh. “He doesn’t have a head for business. Let me think about it.”
Nan Shuyi leaned fully into his playboy persona: “If he doesn’t have a head for business, then just give him some company shares. I’m pretty reckless with money, after all. I spend fast.”
Jiang Gongming didn’t dare continue the conversation. He laughed it off: “Well, it’s getting late. We’ll head home now. You should get home soon too.”
Nan Shuyi called after him: “Uncle, don’t forget to give Yicen a few companies so he can earn money to support me!”
Jiang Gongming practically fled.
Jiang Yicen lagged a few steps behind, smiling as he said goodbye to Nan Shuyi: “I’ll be going now. See you on Saturday.”
A flicker of anticipation stirred in Nan Shuyi’s heart, and a smile crept into his eyes. “See you on Saturday.”
Saturday was their wedding day.